Overtaking Darkness
by Shinigami-huntress
Summary: Sora and Riku have had their issues, but they never thought that Sora would ever go to the dark side. In the process he gets pulled so far into the darkness that he commits suicide. But, Riku is determined to save his friend from the darkness.
1. Chapter 1: THe Calm before the Tragedy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Ok so don't hate me but Sora is kind of a jerk in this one. Ok not, kind of, he is a jerk. Hope you enjoy... The next Chapter should be up soon I'm hoping in the next few days possibly tomorrow. Enjoy and please review. This is a newer version. I edited it. There are a couple of changes, but not too many. The story line is still the same. I just made the writing itself better.**

Chapter 1: The Calm before Tragedy

_Man, my life's been a complete wreck since I got back from The Place That Never Was. Kairi won't talk to me; every time Riku and I talk, we end up fighting. _Sora thought to himself as he walked through the tunnel to the Secret Place. _I wonder if it's changed at all. _He had been back on the islands for about thirty days now and this would be the first visit. His Hair had grown longer, and spikes had gotten spikier. He also could not wear the clothes that had been made for him by the three fairies; he had grown an entire foot.

The shadows were hostile and darkness engulfed him. As he neared the cave a single streak of light shined into the cave. He cautiously entered the cave and crept silently to the center. Screams and scratching filled the cavern and Sora's ears. As the sounds grew louder, he began to panic. A hand reached out to him, Sora saw no body and everything began to go black in his mind. He couldn't feel anything, only darkness made sense to him. "NO THE WORLDS CAN'T BE TAKEN BY DARKNESS." Sora yelled, though his speech was so slurred that if anyone had heard him they would have thought he was drunk. The young brunette with sea blue eyes began to fall uncontrollably towards the floor.

Sora slowly began to come back to consciousness. He had been brought back to his bed in his room, or he had never left it in the first place. "Man you pulled some crazy stuff back there, Sora," Riku joked as he leaned back in the wooden chair next to the bed.

"Riku?" Sora asked bluntly cracking his eyes open. Riku buried his head in his cupped hands and sighed.

"NO! Who else would have carried you back to you room, put an icepack on your head and sat here aimlessly staring at the walls for hours?" Riku shouted sarcastically. The boy in bed rolled gingerly on to his side to face his silver haired comrade.

"What happened?" Sora asked as he pushed the icepack back to the top of his head.

"_What happened? _You don't even say 'thanks a lot Riku for rescuing me' or 'thanks Riku you're the best' or even 'you bastard why the hell'd you bring me back?' _What happened?" _It took a few seconds for Riku's anger to subside enough to speak and then they both cracked up laughing. A couple minutes later, tears began streaming out of their eyes. "Man, we haven't laughed like that in a while, but you haven't been drinking water enough so your dehydration explains what was going on in your head. You began yelling out in Gibberish in what sounded like 'no fish bad water' whatever the hell that means to you and then you passed out. Then I carried you back here and fix you up all nice with an icepack." Riku finished and crossed his arms to show dignity.

"Thanks Riku but-" Sora began.

"I'd love to stay and chat but I got to get back before the sun sets. See ya 'round." Riku called as he rushed out of the room and let the door slam behind him. Sora began to slowly drift back to sleep when the icepack fell off and landed on his chest in front of his face. There was a poorly written note pinned to it. He reached for the water by his bed and gulped it down like there was no tomorrow.

Sora read it aloud, "Hey Sora, Sorry for being such a dick since we got back. Meet me in the usual place and we'll sort things out. –Riku," Sora paused "What the-" The door flew open knocking the posters off the walls. Sora's head snapped towards the door to see two familiar friends.

"Heya Sora," Goofy said.

"Sora we have a problem," Donald began before Goofy cut him off.

"Sora what happened to yer head?" He had a nice lump on his head causing a section of spikes to stick up farther than normal.

"Oh nothing major," Sora mumbled sitting up to see them easier. "How'd you find me?"

"It wasn't easy but Maleficent survived and she's-" Donald began.

"Maleficent?" Sora exclaimed.

"As I was saying, she's trying to-"

"Where is she?"

"Ah phooey, as I was saying she's back, how we don't know, and she's-"

"She's trying to open the Keyhole again?" Sora interrupted.

"Not only that but-"

"We'd better stop her."

"She's got the King and-"

"The King?!" Sora shouted jumping to his feet.

"She said if we interfere she's going to kill him," Donald yelled finally getting to finish a sentence. He dropped his head towards the floor and breathed heavily for a minute.

"Is that all?" Sora asked sarcastically.

"No, she's on her way here for Kairi!" Goofy said.

"Well why didn't you just say that?"

"I was-" Donald started.

"How long do we have?" Sora asked.

"Ahem! BUT YOU KEPT CUTTING ME OFF!!" Donald yelled angrily.

Sora's eyes widened out of shock as Donald began yelling. Goofy turned to Donald, "Hey Donald I'm sure Sora didn't mean to cut you off like that. Did ya Sora?" Sora shook his head.

"Hopefully you don't need me to go anywhere until after tomorrow," He paused, "I won't be available until after tomorrow." Sora finished and Donald and Goofy both gasped.

"Are you crazy?" Donald yelled. As Goofy yelled,

"Are you sure you didn't do anything to your head?"

Then they both yelled in unison, "What happened to our old Sora?"

"What do you have to do that is more important than saving the King? What do you have to do that can't possibly wait?" Donald sneered.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I have a thing set up tomorrow with-" Sora started.

"With Kairi?" Goofy asked.

"No, with Riku," Sora corrected.

"Sora, are you… gay?" Donald asked.

"NO!! Riku just wants to make up for being such a jerk." Sora hastily explained, as a light blush rushed to his face.

"Oh…You might not have until tomorrow." Donald protested, wiping sweat off his brow.

"Well, we'll just have to see. I'm tired; you guys can sleep on the couch," Sora said as he shoved them out of the door and slammed it closed. He took the chair Riku was using and propped it up against the door to keep them out.

The two animal-like creatures sat on the couch together. "I wonder what's gotten into Sora lately," Goofy asked rhetorically.

"Yeah. We'll talk to him in the morning. Go to sleep Goofy," Donald said annoyed.

The next morning Sora woke to pounding at his door yelling, "SORA WAKE UP!! WE NEED TO GET GOING IF WE WANT TO STOP Maleficent!" Sora rolled out of bed and hobbled to the door. He pulled the chair out from under the doorknob, and Donald fell to the ground as the door disappeared from under him.

He glared at Donald and said drowsily, "Like I said yesterday, Maleficent will just have to wait until later." He pushed the duck aside and staggered down a hall.

"Morning Sora," Goofy said as Sora rounded the corner.

"Good morning, I'll be back later," Sora said and he turned to the front door and ran out headed for Riku's normal hang out spot. Once he got to the mini island, Riku jumped out of a tree and landed beside Sora.

"Hey you actually got the note," Riku teased.

"Yeah and I have bad news-" Sora began. They sat down in the sand by a tree in the shade.

"Before you go off on whatever it is that Donald and Goofy want, I have a challenge for you. That is _if_ you're man enough to accept," Riku teased. Sora stared at him waiting for him to continue. "I bet you that I can **still** kick your sorry little ass at fighting. The winner gets to take Kairi on a date. Loser has to-"

"That's not fair!" Sora exclaimed with his mouth wide open.

"Fair or not, what does the loser have to do?" Riku asked with a monotone.

"Loser has to follow the winner around and do whatever the winner commands." Sora said with an evil smirk on his face. Riku nodded his head in agreement. "Anything at all."

"So are you ready to lose Sora?" Riku challenged.

"No. I am never ready to lose… But you sure need to be ready to lose," Sora said with a smile. Riku tilted his head to the side. Both of them drew their Keyblades. "The rules are?"

"No killing each other and no complaining when you lose. Got it?" Riku stated with short pauses to think. Sora nodded and the fight began. The Keyblades were clashing and moving so fast that you could see the trails of where the Keyblades had been. The fight raged on hour after hour. Riku charged at Sora and hit the Keyblade with all his might, Sora's Keyblade flew into the water and he fell to the ground. Riku put his Keyblade to Sora's neck, "Told you I'd win." Riku said removing his Keyblade and he offered a hand to Sora.

"What the-" Sora started.

"Sora!! How much longer are you going to be?" The impatient duck asked running to his side.

"Well I'd say I get to keep him until after the sun sets. We have a date," Riku said simply. Donald stared at Riku wide eyed.

"Are, _you _gay?" Donald asked Riku. The dog-like create ran up to Sora and began looking on the ground for the missing Keyblade.

"No, we had a deal. I'll be back soon, you'd better not chicken out and run away, Sora," Riku called running towards Kairi who was strolling along the shoreline.

"Ah, Sora, what exactly did Riku mean when he said you two had a deal?" Goofy asked returning to Sora's side.

"The winner of that fight gets to go on a date with Kairi, that's Riku. And the loser, me, has to follow them around and do whatever they say," The Keyblade bearer quickly explained.

"Why would you take a deal like that?" Donald asked. Sora shrugged as Riku walked up without Kairi.

"So?? Where's Kairi?" Sora asked.

"We set up the date for later today. Now what was the problem that you were going to tell me?" Riku asked standing up straight so that he was taller than Sora.

"Forget it," Sora said as he turned around to leave.

"Five o'clock," Riku called after him.

**Thanks for reading. I have recently gone back and reread my awful writing and edited it. Reviews are always welcomed and highly appreciated. I tried to keep as much the same as I could. What I really wanted to do was to actually delete this story and start over, but I voted against that. Anyway, chapter 2 will be edited soon.**


	2. Chapter 2: Adding to the Fire

**Disclaimer: as I said I still don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Now here's Chapter 2… A little recap if you don't remember… Riku beat Sora and now Sora has to follow Riku and Kairi around (while they're on a date) and do what ever they tell him. Donald and Goofy have been following Sora around waiting for him to be **_**available **_**to go save the worlds. So anyway here's chapter 2 and please review. Enjoy, this is the edited version.**

Chapter 2: Adding to the Fire

"Five O'clock?" Sora said to himself out of disbelief. "How did this all happen? I thought that this time I could beat Riku. But Riku's still better than me at everything."

"Sora where'd yer Keyblade go when Riku hit it out of your hand?" Goofy asked still trying to spot it. Donald immediately started running around the small island looking for the Keyblade.

"What does it matter? I don't need it. Riku can stop Maleficent," Sora sat down burying his head in his cupped hands. "Take him instead."

"Well Sora, Riku will be helping you but first we need to find your Keyblade," Donald mumbled as he looked out to the ocean. "Sora there it is!!" He exclaimed jumping into the water. Donald temporarily disappeared into the water. He returned to the surface holding the Keyblade above his head. It disappeared and then reappeared in Sora's hand.

Sora threw it randomly, "I don't want it!" He yelled as the Keyblade hit Goofy in the head. Goofy rubbed his head not taking his eyes on Sora.

"Sora what's wrong?" Goofy asked. The boy looked up with tears in his eyes.

"Sometimes I think everyone would be better off without me." Sora said. He stood up and ran towards the secret place not bothering to listen to Donald and Goofy tell him he was wrong. Sora kept running until the tunnel to the Secret Place was in sight. He slowed down to go through the tunnel; luckily, Donald and Goofy were not following him. Once he got to the secret place, he sat down by the drawing of himself and Kairi and began to cry.

"Sora? Is everything all right? Do you hate Riku for pushing you around?" A voice called. "Are you jealous of him? Do you want to kill him?" The voice called again.

"S-somet-times," Sora stuttered. "I just wish that he'd leave me alone other times," Sora sobbed.

"How badly do you want that?" The voice said with an evil ring.

Sora sat in silence for a minute. "I want it more than anything right now." Feeling better he stood up and tried to find the source of the voice.

"Then join me and make that come true," The voice said as the shadows in front of him began to show spots of green.

"Maleficent!" He exclaimed.

"Riku joined me for the same reasons that you just told me," she said sinisterly. "I can help you if you want it."

"Really? You would do that for me?" He asked. She nodded. Maleficent held out her hand to him. Riku came running into the cave, determined to speak to his friend. As he saw the evil lady he halted and stared in disbelief.

"No, Sora, don't go with her! She lies," Riku called. Sora shook his head and took her hand. "No!" He yelled as Sora and Maleficent disappeared into a dark portal. "I didn't want this." Riku called falling to his knees. He dropped his head in defeat. "This day was going to be wonderful. It is his birthday. I had a surprise for him."

Donald and Goofy came running in. "Riku where's Sora?" Donald asked.

"With Maleficent," He said bluntly.

**Sorry this Chapter turned out way shorter than expected but I couldn't go on just yet. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Deadly Promise

**Disclaimer: Same as always I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Well it's the chapter you've all been waiting for! This is also the edited version… Pretty soon I'll be able to post the next couple of chapters I have written (Yes, the sequel.) I am going to add the sequel at the end.**

Chapter 3: The Deadly Promise

"Maleficent?" Donald asked in disbelief. The guilty teen nodded as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Well are ya sure?" Goofy questioned. Riku nodded again.

"It's all my fault. I was just joking about the date with Kairi. Kairi had agreed to help me pull off the surprise party for Sora, we had the others setting it up at Sora's house and we needed to keep him out of it," Riku paused. "I never thought that he, of all people, would give in to the darkness, go all evil on us and join Maleficent. He's always been better than that. I just don't believe it."

From the shadows, Sora silently listened to the conversation between his old friends. His blood boiled as Riku, Donald and Goofy left. "You tricked me!" Sora exclaimed as Maleficent placed her hand on his shoulder. "You knew he didn't mean it! Why? Why did you do it? How could you have led me so far into hatred that I actually wanted to kill my best friend? Why?" Sora demanded.

"_I _only offered my help. The jealousy and rage inside your heart did the rest." Maleficent said as she blocked his view of the rest of the cave. She gazed down at him as if she were a Queen and he a mere peasant begging for food to feed his starving family. "We'd best be off." Riku came running back in.

"Sora!" He shouted. Sora's head snapped to look around Maleficent.

"Riku! Help me. I didn't know; I'm so sorry." Sora yelled outstretching his hand to Riku through Maleficent's cape. The older boy could not reach him so he jumped at the evil woman, but she was faster, she back-hand slapped Riku sending him flying towards the wall farthest from them. Then Maleficent began to shove the ever struggling Sora into a dark portal. "Riku, forgive me, please!" He yelled as he vanished.

"Sora!" Riku called again. The portal was beginning to close as Maleficent fled into it with a huge smile on her face. _I must save Sora. _Riku thought as he leapt to his feet and sprinted into the closing portal.

"Riku!" Donald exclaimed running after him. Riku barely made it in before the portal closed completely.

"Riku didn't join Maleficent too, did he?" Goofy asked. It was more of a rhetorical question, but Donald just simply shrugged.

"We'll have to find him. We should try Radiant Garden first," Donald said as they walked through the tunnel. "Leon might know something."

The darkness seemed to go on forever as Riku peered through the darkness hoping to catch even just a sign that he was close to Sora. "Sora?" He called. A light suddenly appeared in front of him, "Sora?" He held his hand out to the light and all of the darkness faded. "Sora?" _This is oddly familiar. _Riku looked around _Oh crap, I'm back in Hollow Bastion, not good. Well let's see if I can get out of here without being spotted, I can go and find Sora's friend Leon. Yeah, that's what I'll do. _Riku thought as a tunnel was right in front of him. The hall seemed to stretch on without end.

Hours later, Riku finally made it out of the ruined castle and set off for the shops in the town. He was deep in thought as he ran right into a tall man with a red cape, "Oh sorry." The guy shrugged and was about to leave. "Hey do you think you can help me out? I'm a little lost. Do you know where the Merlin's house is?"

He pointed to a person up a set of stairs. "That's Leon, ask him. He practically lives there," He said and left. Riku headed up the small set of stairs.

"Hi, umm Leon right?" He asked.

"Who wants to know?" The man asked. He brushed his long brown hair back and gave Riku a friendly smile.

"I'm Riku and Sora's in trouble I need your help." He leaned closer to Leon, "He's joined Maleficent," He said with a hushed tone. Leon looked at him with confusion clouding his eyes.

"Looks like we need to talk in private so I can get all the details," Leon said leading the way down a flight of stairs. His black leather squeaked as he moved.

In the distance, just out of earshot, Sora and Maleficent stood watching Riku walk off with Leon. "You see now Riku is stealing your friends too," Maleficent lied.

Sora's head drooped, "I guess you're right. What can I do?"

"Well, there's only one thing to do. Eliminate him. You have been living as his shadow ever since you met him." Sora's blood began to boil and he gritted his teeth. "Or you could return to him and remain his shadow."

"I choose to…"

At the Merlin's house…

"So what exactly do you mean by he was _tricked_ in to joining her?" Cid asked trying to make sense of what Riku had explained.

Riku quickly explained what he had said right before Sora was pleading for help. "Well Maleficent won't rest until she has him under her complete control, which creates problems for-" Leon began as the door flew open.

"Riku you're gonna pay for making me live as a shadow for you. I'm going to kill you myself." Sora yelled.

"Sora?" They all exclaimed as he backed into a dark portal.

"What was that all about?" Yuffie asked.

"I can't believe that he just said he is going to _kill_ me," Riku said. "He wasn't even under her control or anything. He really meant it." Riku fell to his knees, hair trailing behind.

"You are the only one who can show him the truth, but you can ask five others to help you get to him," Merlin commented.

"Who?" Riku asked simply.

"Donald… Goofy… Leon… Yuffie… and Cloud." Merlin listed with a good amount of space between each name.

"But _will _they help?"

"Of course. Anything for Sora." Donald and Goofy said as they walked through the open door. Riku looked up with hope and happiness returning to his expression.

"You can count on the Great Ninja Yuffie."

"Me too," Leon added.

"Now Cloud. Who is he?" Riku asked.

"The guy you talked to earlier," Leon explained. "He's a bit quiet."

"But will he help?"

"We can only hope," Aerith said.

"Then let's go talk to him," Riku said rising to his feet. Everyone else nodded.


	4. Chapter 4: Confrontaton

**Ok I like this chapter a lot but Chapter 5 is my favorite. Especially the very first line Riku says. Anyway, I am adding in the last chapters today. BeyondxHatred actually gave me the last line for Chapter 6 and she didn't even say anything related to Kingdom Hearts (however, that works right?) Here's my favorite line in this Chapter: "Then welcome aboard the Suicidal Express." They all began to laugh. "Sorry bad joke I know." So on with the story. This is the edited version.**

Chapter 4: Confrontation

The sun was just beginning to set when Riku approached Cloud with Leon, Yuffie, Donald and Goofy following, "Umm, Hi I'm Riku and-"

"Just get on with." Cloud said irritated.

"Uh right. We need your help." Riku stated bluntly. _Hopefully he'll help, with the way this conversation is going, I highly doubt he will._

"Are you trying to be funny or make a joke?" Cloud asked. Riku quickly explained the situation Sora was in and what they had planned. Cloud's expression remained the same old 'I really don't care' look. "Sora's in trouble and you need my help, why?"

Yuffie walked in between Cloud and Riku, "Cloud, you're an amazing fighter and the only way we can help Sora is if Riku can get to him alive. We would have a greater chance if _you _helped us."

"Guess I do owe Sora," Cloud said.

Sora, as always, off in the distance was watching with Maleficent, "Sora look. He wants to kill you himself so he's using your friends for protection. And who knows next he might actually succeed in stealing Kairi from you if you don't do something." They were out of earshot, so Sora was again left to believe the lies Maleficent was feeding to him.

"He _will_ pay," Sora said ready to run down there and kill Riku where he stands.

"All in good time. You must wait until he isn't going to expect it, then he's all yours." Maleficent surprisingly sounded like she gave a damn about Sora. "I am, however, sure you won't want to fight Riku if he's gotten weak. That would just prove that you, yourself are weak."

"What should we do then?"

"If we create obstacles for him on the way to the castle-"

"You mean Heartless. So go ahead." Sora said cutting Maleficent off.

"So, we'll head for the castle in the morning then?" Yuffie asked. Riku nodded. Everyone was lying on the floor ready to go to sleep when a knock came from the door.

"I got it," Cloud said, since he was closest to the door and it was hard to move in the Merlin's house to begin with. He opened the door, "Sora?" Everyone jumped to their feet prepared for an attack.

"No, I'm Roxas, Sora's nobody. I want to help you," He defended shying away.

Riku quickly exchanged a few glances before replying, "Sora wouldn't gain anything to have you kill us now would he?" Roxas shook his head ready to say something but Riku continued, "If you want to help us that's entirely up to you, but if you double cross us I will kill you," Roxas nodded. "Then welcome aboard the Suicidal Express." They all began to laugh. "Sorry bad joke I know."

"The castle is completely surrounded with Heartless," Roxas said, "I just came from that way I was trying to talk sense into Sora and he tried to kill me. I barley made it out alive."

"We should all get some rest." Leon said throwing a pillow to Roxas.

The next day… Departure of the Suicidal Express…

"Maleficent, how long do you expect we have until they get here?" Sora asked drowsily walking over toward her tripping on everything in the way.

"Well, they probably just got out of bed," Maleficent said while Sora was rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes, "So I'd say about noon they should be here, if they can make it that is." Maleficent sounded excessively overconfident that they wouldn't make it.

Sora shrugged, "I'd like to talk to them and give them some false hope, if that's all right." Maleficent simply waved him off.

"Riku, we just got a message from the King, he's on his way here now," Donald said as everyone was walking around the Merlin's house. "He managed to escape."

"After a quick stop, Donald," Goofy corrected.

"Should we wait for him?" Leon asked, everyone turned to Riku who was lost in thought.

"No, if we wait Sora will be lost farther into the darkness." Riku stated. His determination seemed to give the others a bit more courage then they already had.

"And if we wait too long, then Sora won't want to hear the truth anymore." Roxas added in pessimistically.

"If there are no complaints let's head out. And let's not be pessimistic," Riku said putting on a fake smile. No one spoke so Riku walked out of the door and out into the clearing, "Does anyone else find it weird that we're not being attacked? Sora said that he always got attacked when he left here."

"So, you actually listened to me then? I'm completely shocked. I didn't think you listened to your shadow. So you listened and talked nice then turned around and treated me like dirt what kind of _friend _does that make you?" In front of them Sora stepped out of a dark portal, with his Keyblade in hand. The Keyblade slowly turned black.

"Sora, I never meant to treat you like dirt. I thought of you as a brother," Riku said taking a step away from the others to get closer to Sora.

"Lies! Maleficent has not only led me out from being your shadow but she has shown me a new power."

"Maleficent doesn't care about you. She's using you. She did the same thing to me. Twisted the truth to her advantage," Riku protested.

"No you're wrong," Sora yelled turning to the dark portal.

"Sora," A voice called. He stopped and looked to the source of the voice. The Keyblade glinted white for a moment and then faded back to black again.

"Kairi?" He paused and seemed to be back to normal before saying, "You're no better than him." Heartless swarmed the area and Sora left smiling at them.

"We don't have the time to take care of the Heartless right now," Leon said. Riku and the others nodded trying to figure out what to do.

"I'll stay. I mean they have to be taken care of so the townspeople aren't hurt right? So, I'll stay." Roxas spoke up when no one had any suggestions.

"Are you sure?" Riku asked.

"I'm a nobody. I have no heart, and I shouldn't exist. No one will miss me if I die, other than you." He paused "But don't worry about that I'll catch up just get out of here."

They left Roxas there alone to fight the mass of Heartless and they only killed the ones preventing them from going. "Come on Kairi, we're going to get Sora back."

"I know that's why we're here." Kairi said as King Mickey fell from the sky and landed next to her.

"Well, let's go and save Sora then," Mickey said as his golden Keyblade appeared. They set off towards the ruined castle.

**Hope you liked the fourth Chapter, please review. The more reviews I get the faster the sequel will come out, and 4 reviews out of 107 hits isn't very good. So please review. And by now you might have been able to tell I really like ending with cliff hangers.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Hold of Darkness

**Yay!! My favorite chapter has finally been typed!! Hope you enjoy it. This is the edited version.**

Chapter 5: The Hold of Darkness

"HOW COULD YOU ACTUALLY LET THAT GIRL GET TO YOU? ARE YOU TRYING TO RUIN OUR PLANS?" Maleficent screamed at Sora, "It was only supposed to be you giving false hope not real hope."

"She just caught me off guard that's all. It won't happen again. My deepest apologies," Sora said.

"Good now you needn't worry, I have everything under control," she said signaling for him to leave.

"I'll be training then," Sora said as he left the room.

_My plan is working perfectly. Riku will come with the King and Sora's friends. Sora will kill Riku, then I'll order him to kill the others, and when they're all dead I'll kill Sora and rule the worlds without anyone in my way! _Maleficent thought with a smile stretched across her face.

"Riku, please tell me you have some sort of plan to save Sora or else you'll be forced to have to actually fight him." Kairi pointed out.

"I'm not sure. I'll try to talk to him and explain what's been going on but Maleficent," His voice trailed off.

"Riku don't worry about Maleficent, that's what we're here for," Yuffie said trying to reassure Riku.

"You guys would really do that? Are you sure?" Riku stopped. "Wait a second… I have an idea!" Riku exclaimed.

Everyone stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Get on with it already," Cloud growled impatiently.

"Why wouldn't Maleficent just come down here and kill us instead of waiting for us to come to her?" No one answered. "Let's go back to Merlin's house." Then they all began to run back. As they neared the house all of the Heartless were gone. They door came into sight and Roxas was lying in front of it motionless. Riku ran up to him and knelt down. Everyone else slowly followed.

"Roxas?" Riku asked.

"He's not dead is he?" Kairi asked.

Roxas's eyes shot opened the sound of Kairi's voice. "Naminé?" He asked.

"No she's keeping an eye on Sora for us," she said.

"We need to get him inside now," Leon said as huge black storm clouds began to cover the sky overhead. Riku picked up Roxas and carried him inside and everyone else followed.

They all sat through an hour of listening to Roxas repeat Naminé over and over before fully drifting into unconsciousness. "Who is Naminé?" Leon asked Kairi.

"My nobody," she stated.

"Sora are you still watching them?" Maleficent asked nicely. **(Ok I know that would never happen but I need to show that Maleficent has a nicer side. Not for the rest of the story just because, her nicer side actually has nothing to do with the rest of the story.)**

"Roxas took my place and they stopped coming. Do you still have the Heartless to drive them out?" Sora asked as maleficent rushed to his side.

"Of course, I'll send them right away."

The walls soon began to rumble, "Riku, they're trying to drive us to Maleficent." Yuffie shrieked. Roxas stood up and walked to the middle of the room. He was unnaturally stiff.

"Wanna say goodbye to our friends?" A voice asked as a Keyblade was pierced through Roxas's chest. He began to fade reveling Sora grinning like a little boy with his first Christmas toy. He was covered the blood of his nobody. Everyone in the room was starring wide-eyed at him.

"Sora what-" Riku began.

"It needed to be done. Though it was a lot more merciful than what Naminé went through," Sora said as he disappeared in to a dark portal. Moments later the whole house exploded.

"It is done Maleficent," Sora reported.

"Good, are they _all _dead?" She asked.

"I wouldn't count on it, not with Donald's magic anyway."

"You were supposed to kill them all!!" Maleficent screamed, "You're ruining my plans!" She was yelling so loud that Sora was forced to cover his ears.

"They should, _if_ they survived be here by morning," Sora said. Maleficent was fuming in a corner.

"Get out of my sight," she spat.

**Well Chapter 6 should be out soon. Please review and keep watching for the next chapter. **


	6. Chapter 6: The Future has Never Been Set

**Ok, so I really like the beginning of this chapter and please review, I need some ideas for the sequel, yes I have already started it. Reviews are a great source of ideas and I do need them, so if you don't mind please review. This is the edited version.**

Chapter 6: The Future Has Never Been Set in Stone

That night Sora lay in his bed trying to sleep, but images and the sounds of his kills played over in his mind every time he shut his eyes. He sat up _I killed two people. I have become what I set out to get rid of. I took two innocent lives. _He thought pulling out a knife he had stolen. _Just two more. That's all, two more. _He silently promised. He pulled back his sleeve on his left wrist. It was swollen and have more cuts than you would ever want to count. He set the knife on his skin and pressed hard. The knife sunk deep into his skin nearly cutting the vain, the blood spilled out all over him and his bed. _One for Naminé, last one. _This time when he pushed the knife in it did hit the vain, blood spilled out uncontrollably. He ripped the sheet and tied it around his wrist without even noticing. _Last one. I'm not doing it again. Never as long as I live. _Maleficent walked in, she didn't notice the blood, well more like she didn't care.

"What's wrong Sora?" She asked resting her hand on his shoulder. He looked up to her with tears in his eyes.

"They were both defenseless; I killed Roxas in cold blood. He didn't even have a clue it was coming," he sobbed.

"He was just a nobody," she said bluntly.

"No he wasn't. He was my nobody." Maleficent looked surprised when Sora said that. "I feel like I killed part of myself."

The house was in total ruins. Everyone but Riku had gotten close enough to Donald to be saved with magic except for Riku. Kairi was desperately searching, "Riku!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. A hand was sticking out of a huge pile of house. **(Ok that just sounds funny.) **"Leon, help me get him out," she ordered as everyone came over and helped her try to lift the large chunks of stone. Try as they might nothing would move. She looked over to Donald.

"I can't use my magic without killing him," he said answering the unasked question. Behind them Sora walked out of a dark portal.

"There's no way I'm letting him die that easy," Sora said almost making Kairi jump into the pile. Millions of Heartless showed up and moved all of the ruins away. Riku hobbled to his feet as the Heartless disappeared. "Now, I'll kill you like I promised," Sora spoke softer.

Riku looked him in the eyes, "Sora can we talk. I'm not fighting you until I talk to you," He begged.

"Talk all you want but once you're done I'm still going to kill you," Sora said. Riku took a few slow steps towards him.

"What exactly has Maleficent told you?" He asked.

That was the one question no one could answer in any short amount of time and it was defiantly not one Sora wanted to answer either. "You stole my friends and used them to keep you alive," he said with his anger boiling and feeding his actions. The wind picked up and began to tug at the piece of sheet.

"No, we all wanted to help you Sora," Cloud said walking over to join Riku.

"I wouldn't _use _any one ever," Riku defended.

"And I suppose I'm the acceptation to that," Sora said with a hint of dark aura around him.

"No I-"

"You were going to kill me!"

"No Sora I couldn't."

"You treated me like crap."

"Sora I- I love you. Why do you think I carried you home and waited for you to wake up that day? I planned you a surprise birthday party and bought you the present that you've wanted since either of us could remember. You are my brother Sora," Riku said. Obviously, Riku thinks really highly of Sora and they are best friends, they are not gay. "I would have given my life to undo all the pain I caused you." Both Riku and Sora had tears in their eyes.

"Riku I thought-" Sora began and Maleficent appeared.

"Sora what do you think you are doing? Kill them all," she ordered. "Quit delaying my plans farther."

"No!" He exclaimed as the sheet flew off reveling all of his cuts. "You tricked me, blinded me from the wonderful things in life. It's you who I'm gonna kill. You forced me to kill Naminé, then Roxas. No more. It ends here," Sora said as his Keyblade appeared, this time shining white. Heartless surrounded all of Sora's friends and Sora ran the Keyblade through Maleficent as she tried to attack Riku. Blood covered the ground.

"Sora?" Kairi asked as he slipped into deep concentration.

"I killed part of you and part of me." Riku was lying motionlessly on the ground, "And now Riku too." He said, "If I stay in this world I'll only cause more pain for others." He said running the Keyblade through his own chest. "I'll never forgive myself." He said as the life slowly drained from him.

Riku rolled over, "SORA! NO!!" Sora smiled lightly ar his friend before falling to the ground. But it was too late for even Donald's magic to save him. Kairi, King Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Yuffie, Leon and Cloud all came to his side. "I'm going to find a way to bring him back. Maleficent has come back twice now. If it's the last thing I do I'll bring him back."

"We've come this far with you, so we'll help you with this too." Cloud promised for everyone.

**The end… Now watch for the sequel it doesn't have a title yet but I'll say in the description if it's the sequel or not. Please review. Ok by now I was hoping to have the first chapter of the sequel up but I am i serious writers block and if you have any ideas I would really love to hear them. I'm hoping to have the first chapter up by the end of the week but at this rate I might have it up in the next three weeks, so please review and share any ideas you might have (I'll try my best to add them in) So I hope you liked this one and I have a ton of hits and 5 reviews (most from BeyondxHatred but not the point she has to review and if you noticed the war we had going on I won I finished my story first.) But any way please review and keep watching for the sequel.**


	7. Chapter 7: Confessions

Chapter 7: Confessions

"We all knew what Sora is like when he has his mind set on something. We knew we would not have been able to stop him. We knew there was no hope, yet we tried. We lost Naminé, Roxas, as well as Sora. We have next to no hope left that Hades will ever let him go. I still haven't quite figured out what was going through his head after he killed Maleficent, but I intend to. I could have saved him, if I had tried harder. I know I could have… But how? He was too hard to persuade when he wanted to listen. What could I have done, Kairi? Was there anything I could have done? Or was it all hopeless from the very start?" Riku spoke quietly to Kairi. They were sitting by a piece of the stone house on the ground. The wall piece made an excellent seat.

She had a thoughtful look on her face while a small silence filled the air. She spoke so quiet that no one other than Riku could hear her, "It is never hopeless. It only becomes hopeless when you yourself give up hope. If you thought it was hopeless than there was never any hope." Grief filled Riku's eyes as she stopped. Quickly she began to speak again. "But, Riku, I know you better than that. I know you knew that there was always a little hope. You would never leave you friend hanging when you thought there was a chance. I know you tried everything in your power to save him." A single tear rolled down his cheek.

He stared at her and shook his head with pain in it. "No, I didn't try everything. I could have done so much more. _I _was the reason he ran away with Maleficent in the first place. _I _was the reason behind his suicide. _I could _have saved him in the beginning. But I was selfish. I knew what would hurt him. I knew that making him follow us around on a date, just the idea, would hurt him. But I did it anyway. If I hadn't been so fucking selfish he would be sitting here next to me." Tears filled his eyes with his last words. Kairi instinctively put her arms around him.

"Riku-" She began as tears filled her eyes as well. Riku pulled himself out of her embrace with tears streaming down his face.

"I did know this would happen. I knew everything. That is _why _I didn't try everything. I knew he would not listen. I knew he was going to kill Roxas, Naminé, Maleficent and himself. I saw it all before hand. Which is why I did nothing. I could have stopped it all. I could have saved him. I could have let him have _you_. You are all he wanted in the beginning. And I knew that. And I did too. And I hurt him because I was selfish. This all could have been avoided if I had done something in the beginning. I was cruel and I don't think he'll ever forgive me no matter the outcome. Once we get him back I am leaving. No one will ever see me again. I promise you that Kairi. I will never hurt him again." Riku was on the verge of a total break down now. Kairi stood up off the piece of wall that they were sitting on.

"Riku, I had no idea that-" She began as more tears began to stream down her cheeks..

"That I would hurt my best friend to the point that he would kill himself. That I am a monster. That I honestly have no feelings. That I was so damn selfish that I would let my friend kill himself. That I would pretend to care more than I actually did for you. Am I hitting any of what you were about to say? Am I even close? Take your pick at finishing the sentence." He shouted. She looked almost afraid of him at this point. "Do _you _hate me?"

"No. I should, but no I don't. I could never hate you," she said as she turned around and ran away from him sobbing. Riku fell to the ground anguished.

_Can't I do anything right anymore? _Riku thought to himself. _I don't even deserve to live anymore. I am going to be the death of all of my friends. Every single one of them. And there is nothing that I can do about it. _Riku stood up and clutched his hands into fists.

"Are you done with your pity party yet?" A hard voice asked form behind him. Riku swung around to see Cloud standing there, his face totally emotionless. "Or do I need to kill _you _and call it good?" Riku could tell Cloud was serious. He nodded. "Good. We have a plan. You ready to hear it?" Riku nodded again. "Follow me then," Cloud turned around and took a step.

"Cloud, can I ask you something?" Cloud turned around to face him.

"You can ask, but that doesn't mean I'll give you an answer," he said coldly.

"Have you ever been the cause of a friend's death?" Cloud stared at him with a blank expression.

"I don't really have what you would call a friend. But, I don't think that is what you really want to know, is it?" Cloud challenged. "You want to know how to live with the fact that you killed your best friend. Am I right?" Riku hung his head down and nodded. Cloud continued to speak, "Don't be ashamed. If you carry on like this Sora will never come back. And then you'll continue beating yourself up. At least act like you didn't just cause your friend's death and try to help us out by not being miserable enough for all of us. We are already grieving enough, don't add to it." Cloud spun around and stalked off, Riku reluctantly followed still feeling down.

Surrounding another piece of Merlin's house was Leon, Yuffie, Donald and Goofy, and Kairi. Leon was the first to speak as Riku and Cloud approached. "We are going to travel to the Underworld to pay a visit to Hades. We know he will never just let us have Sora. So we are going to have to fight him, or we'll strike a deal with him."

"He is going to want us to kill Hercules. But he might be willing to make a trade. Sora's life for…" He paused, "mine." Everyone stared at him as if he had just summoned Maleficent again.

"Riku you can't!" Kairi exclaimed.

"It might be worth a shot. We could always get Sora and make the trade, then get you out at the last minute." Leon spoke with a bit of a harsh tone.

"Leon! We can't!" Kairi screamed even louder than before. "It would never work and you know it. Hades would seal him away and we would never see Riku again! I can't live with that!" Tears began to run down her cheeks again. They all stared at her awestricken. "Riku can I talk to you in private?"

Riku ignored her and continued talking directly to Leon. "If you think it's worth a shot, then that is our plan. We will trade him me for Sora. Everyone agree?" Everyone nodded and Kairi stormed off screaming.

"You better talk to her, now." Yuffie said shoving Riku towards her. He chased after Kairi.

"Kairi, I have to do whatever it takes to save Sora. And I owe him my life." Riku spoke gingerly into her ear as he wrapped his arms comfortingly around her.

"Riku, don't do it. Please." She begged through her sobbing. She hugged him back holding him tighter than he was holding her.

"I have to," he stated.

"Please don't. I can't live without you," she paused. "I love you Riku. And If I can't live with you then I won't live at all." She paused again, "I am just as selfish as you Riku. Please don't do it. We'll try talking to Hades. I'm sure he would agree to a better deal than trading you. He must be reasonable enough to no trade you for Sora. He has to be."

"Kairi, I-" He started unable to find the right words to comfort her. "I have to do whatever it takes to get Sora back. I am willing to do anything. Anything it takes."

"But Riku, I need you after this. I-" She began.

"I am sorry Kairi. But Sora is my first priority at the moment." He said as he pulled her arms off of him and he walked away from her.

She fell to the ground and cried even harder than before. Riku stalked back to the group. "What did you _do _to her?" Yuffie exclaimed. Riku met her cold stare.

"I told her the truth. That Sora is my first priority and that I will do absolutely anything that it takes to get him back."

"You asshole she need you to comfort her not tear her up farther." Yuffie screamed as she ran to Kairi, who was still on the ground.

"She's right. Yuffie is almost always right." Leon stated unsympathetically. Riku shrugged.

"I must focus on Sora." He stated just as callously as he had to Kairi a few moments ago. "we should probably leave the girls behind. They're too emotional. They'll ruin everything."

Yuffie sat down next to Kairi and tenderly rubbed her back in diminutive relaxing circles and she waited for Kairi to start talking. The two girls sat on the ground for about five minutes before Kairi spoke, "I was so stupid to expect him to understand. I told him that I loved him and needed him to stay with me. And he- he-" She moved herself so the she was sobbing into Yuffie's shoulder. Yuffie hugged her.

"I know. Boys are stupid. Riku will come around Kairi. He always has. You just wait. He'll come to his senses. Trust me." Kairi sniveled and looked into Yuffie's eyes.

"How can you be so sure? He just said that-" Kairi began. Yuffie put a finger over her lips.

"I just know. Don't let his cruel words get you down."

Later that day every one prepared to leave to confront Hades. Tension filled the air around all of them, but, mainly only between Kairi and Riku. They took off in a brand new Gummi ship that had been made for such an occasion. The flight was surprisingly short. As they arrived in front of the Underworld Hercules was waiting for them. He did not look like he had any good news for them. Riku now really wished that they had left Kairi back in Radiant Garden. Whatever Hercules had to say would make her hysterical, especially when she found out that Riku was going to leave the whole party behind to confront Hades. He didn't want his plan to get messed up because Kairi was being emotional. He had to go alone. If not alone, he would take either Leon or Cloud. They would be able to be emotionless and indifferent when he gave his life to Hades.


	8. Chapter 8: All for the Fight

Chapter 8: All for the Fight

"I figured you guys would come," Hercules muttered to Riku. The group stood before the half-god still groggy after their long voyage. "Sora arrived here a few days ago, and has been keeping me busy ever since."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked puzzled. Kairi was biting down and grinding her teeth to keep herself from going into hysterics. They all knew that the only one who could beat Sora was Riku. She would, when the time came, go into hysterics just ti keep Riku from fighting.

"You better see for yourselves. It's best not to talk about it here. You never jknow who may be listening. With his final words Hercules began to lead the party up never ending stairs. The walk was long and silent. Riku had to find a way to get to Hades without a follower. Ahead came a great light. Riku began lag behind. Taking notice, Leon stopped him.

"I know what you are about to do. I'll keep Kairi distracted. I'll tell them you needed to stop and catch your breath," Leon explained his plan. He stared into Riku's eyes. "I know what you need to do. We'll try to buy you as much time as we can."

"Thanks, I'll owe you," Riku huffed. He was tired and did need to stop to catch his breath. "If I don't make it back, will you tell Kairi something for me?" Leon nodded. "Tell her that…"

The coliseum was in ruins. The only part that was still intact was the slab where the fighting took place and a single row of seats. "Welcome," A voice shouted. "Send forth one who is worthy of fighting the Keyblade bearer!"

"Where are Riku and Leon?" Kairi nearly screamed. Yuffie placed a hand on her shoulder and Cloud stepped forward.

"We will all fight him," Cloud declared.

"All of you against the Keyblade bearer?" The voice asked. "That's a bit unfair."

"Hurry up Leon," Cloud whispered. "We will all fight him, but we will only fight with one person at a time. One leaves and another jumps in. Is that fair enough?" Cloud shouted.

"That will not help you. You're up. Let the fight begin!" As the voice finished Sora stepped out. His hair lay flat against his face and his eyes were black. The cuts across his wrists were growing extra red veins from infection and the weight of his entire body had gone down by at least half. The gates closed and two powerful Heartless stood guard by them. "They will remain there to prevent you from running away, and from having help come to you. Begin!" Sora ran at Cloud without a Keyblade in hand. Cloud held his sword in front of him and the Keyblade suddenly speared in Sora's hands as they began to exchange blows.

An echoing thunder filled the stairwell. "That would be the gates, looks like I'm with you," Leon mumbled. With his Gunblade in hand he doubtfully walked down the steps. Riku summoned his Keyblade and ran after the older man. He passed him and took the remaining steps three at a time. Leon followed yelling, "Do you have a plan in mind?" Riku shook his head.

They walked towards the entrance of the Underworld. "You have to participate in the Dark Tournament if you wish to speak with Hades," Panic muttered. Riku and Leon stopped dead in their tracks. Sora had often spoke if the Dark Tournament. He had told Riku of the awful events he had taken place in; they were almost impossible to win.

"I have business with Hades," Riku informed. Panic stared at him trying to figure out what he meant.

"What kind of business?" He asked and Leon stepped past Riku.

"If you really need someone to partake in the Dark Tournament I will do it, on the condition that he gets to go see Hades," Leon proposed.

For a few moments Panic pondered what had been said. "That is acceptable." He stepped aside and let Riku pass. "You'll have to participate in all of the cups."

Riku took off deeper into the Underworld. Leon had slipped him a map earlier when he was talking to Panic. He opened it and stared in awe. There were so many tunnels that looped around back to the beginning. For all he knew he could be holding it upside down. He flipped it over and saw the path drawn out. "Thanks Leon," He muttered and then ran towards a large open room. He summoned his Keyblade and began to slay the appearing Heartless. When they didn't stop coming he ran until his feet ached. Before him stood an ascending path with platforms. At the top was Hades' chamber. With determination he stepped forth and Heartless began, once again, flooding into the room. Suddenly, they all vanished.

"Who has come so far into the Underworld?" Hades shouted as a flaming portal appeared. He stepped out and was furious. "Oh, it's just the traitor."

"Hades, can I have a word with you?" Riku asked as the Keyblade in his hand vanished.

Cloud began to weaken as his strength was failing. He knew that he needed to switch with someone, but they would soon tire as well. He had to buy Leon and Riku as much time as he could. Leon had given him specific instructions.

_"Cloud, Riku is going to slip away to visit Hades. If I don't make it back in time, buy us as much time as you possibly can," Leon had muttered in a very low voice. They were standing very close together so that Kairi would not overhear._

_"Then take this," Cloud said handing him a map of the Underworld. "Sora left it a while back." Leon nodded and shook Cloud's hand. "Try not to take too long, I don't know how long I can hold off Sora." Leon nodded again and walked down the stairs._

"So, Cloud are you ready to lose to me again?" Sora asked as he hit Cloud in the arm. Blood ran down his arm and he dropped his sword. Cloud fell to his knees. Then Sora sent a blow across his chest.

"Cloud!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Get up, please get up." Cloud stayed down. With Sora closing in on the nearly defeated Cloud, he gingerly with no arm strength grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Cloud, you need to switch with someone!"

Ignoring Yuffie's protests he slowly rose the blade with both hands just in time to hit the Keyblade and send it flying. He tackled Sora to the ground and placed his hands around the boy's neck. "Surrender!" He ordered.

"Freeze!" Sora shouted back.

"So, you want to switch places with Sora? That's not a bad offer," Hades began. "I'll give you Sora."

"What's the catch?" Riku asked.

"Go find and bring me back…"

**Ok, I know many of you have been waiting for this for nearly ever… But here is the next chapter. Chapter nine will be out when ever I get around to it so, don't hold your breath.**


	9. Chapter 9: Point of Entry

**I had a ton of fun writing this chapter. Just going to warn you that your favorite character might die, so don't get too attached to anyone. Anyways, onto the next chapter...**

* * *

Chapter 9: Point of Entry

All was quiet, no one was around. Riku stared at the Gummi Ship. The only reason he was doing any of this was for Sora. Leon would just have to hang in there against all of the evil Hades felt like throwing at him. The others would have to stay alive long enough for him to get back. Sora wouldn't tire nor would he feel pity towards them. If Riku should fail, all of his friends would die. With that happy thought he got into the ship and strapped himself in. The same thought kept going through his head: _Don't fuck this up._ His heading… Let's just say was undecided.

Riku didn't expect Hades to keep his word when he said that he would call off Sora until he got back, so he had to hurry. The thing Hades wanted was not going to be easy to find, especially being as though he had a starting point of… No idea. His plan:

1. Find starting point

2. Go to the point

3. Find the thing

4. Return to Hades--- no, not yet

4. Get the thing into ship

5. Go back to Hades

6. Rescue Sora and friends

It wasn't unreasonable. It was possible, after number one was completed. _I guess I'll go back to Hollow Bastion. I might be able to find some information on the computer system._ If he had had, Donald, Goofy or one of the others he would have no problem finding his way, but alas he had no one. All he knew was that the computer was somewhere in Hollow Bastion. _Damn it Riku, why did you have to be so unobservant when you were working for Maleficent? How stupid was that?_ The ship lurched through the empty space.

Once in Hollow Bastion, he asked around until he found Cid. The man gave him directions to the mansion, but he already knew how to get there. Then, Cid told him how to navigate to get to the computer room. While he traveled through the dark corridors, Heartless sprung out of every direction. He was beginning to tire when they suddenly stopped altogether. Up ahead was the room that Cid had told him about. "I hate Heartless," he huffed. His strength was failing him, he should have slept on the trip, but he is a stupid boy. His arm was gushing blood by the time he got into the room with the computer. He had torn off part of his pant leg and tied it around his arm to slow the bleeding. He leaned against the keyboard and took a potion like a shot. What he wouldn't give for a shot. He was under aged, yes, but that never stopped him from getting into the alcohol around new places. He turned around and started to type on the keys. _What the hell is the password? I know Sora told me!_

"Do you need some help Riku?" A voice called. He looked around, but there was no one there. A moment later something jumped off Riku's clothes.

"Jiminy cricket you scared me half to death!" Riku screamed. And yes he now officially has a girly scream. The cricket laughed at him and hopped around on the keyboard. "You know the password!" Riku exclaimed as the password box disappeared. Riku pounded excitedly on the keys. "I have to find him, I have to find him." He kept repeating to himself. Behind him a light beam opened. He turned around just in time to see the beam suck him in. Riku fell to the ground in an unknown place, wearing lit up clothing. Heartless swarmed Riku. He was completely surrounded with barely enough room to move his arms. _Where the hell am I?_ He asked himself as he summoned his Keyblade, as it came out it one of the Heartless and it was gone with a little poof. Suddenly they all attacked him. He swung violently without relent. _I freaking hate Heartless! _He fought with all of his will. The boy would stab one Heartless and kick another one on its face. He traced circular motions with his blade and used magic, but even with all of his efforts they still overtook him. After the boy was unable to cast a single spell and he was bloody, Riku fell to his knees. He choked on blood in his mouth and was overwhelmed with the sense of failure.

"User terminated," a computerized voice shouted. The Heartless disappeared and Riku could barely keep his eyes open and he lay on the ground. He allowed his eyes to shut and a few minutes later his strength returned and energy. He rose to his feet and was unharmed as well as back in the room with the computer. He peered around and noticed that Jiminy was nowhere to be found.

It was obvious that he was not going to get any information out of the computer before him, but he had one more option. He would go to Twilight Town and use the computer there. At the rate he was going it was going to take him forever just to get information on the thing.

* * *

Sweat poured down Leon's neck and soaked his shirt. With the amount of sweat he was losing, he could have easily filled a swimming pool. He sliced the last Heartless and ripped his shirt off; it was heavier than he could manage. His Gunblade was getting heavier by the second. Soon, he would have to fight his way out with his bare hands. He wondered how Cloud was holding up. They had planned on having himself and Cloud do all the fighting, so that no one else would get hurt while Riku was gone. This was just too much for him. He now understood why Zeus had locked it up. His head was pounding and his lungs blazed in his chest. How much more could he take before he passed out? Blood was in his ears and his eyes were beginning to blur. His entire body ached and he was hungry. His strength finally, failed him and he fell to the ground. He looked up in time to see Hades walking over to him.

"Leon, I have an offer to make you…"

* * *

Sora had been called off, as was promised. He had returned to the Underworld and the group stood around waiting for Riku to show up. Off a good distance away, Cloud tended to his injuries. He cursed himself for being so obsessed with finding Sephiroth because he had had hardly any time to train and get better. He had always lost to Sora, now was no exception. Kairi walked up to him. "Cloud, are you alright? Do you want some help?" She asked.

"No," Cloud grumbled as he tied a piece of fabric around his bleeding torso. Hurt, she left him and went back to Yuffie. After he was done mummifying himself, he returned to the group. Hades had appeared in the middle of the battle ground.

"Ok, so, here's the deal. I'll take one of you to fight my warrior, and when Riku gets back, if your warrior is still alive, I'll let all of you go with Sora. No strings attached," he said with an evil laugh. Cloud stepped forward. Everyone else protested, but Hades waved them off and they disappeared.

"Where are you taking them?" Cloud asked.

"Out of your way; I don't want you to back down or anything. So, there are no rules," he said and vanished, revealing Leon, just as bloody as Cloud.

"Cloud!"

"Leon!" They both exclaimed at the same time. "What are you-" They both began.

"Fight!" Hades shouted. Obediently, Leon swung his Gunblade at Cloud. This was not going to be an easy fight for either of them. Pained they both fought, one blade swung the other countered. One charged, the other jumped out of the way. Leon would shoot and Cloud would jump over and land behind him. Neither of them wanted to hurt the other, but Cloud was not sure whose side Leon was on anymore. Cloud finally took offence and charged at the other man, who simply flicked the blade away with the tip of his sword. Cloud tumbled back and Leon charged with a pained expression. He did not want to fight Cloud, but Hades was controlling his actions. He got to Cloud and ran the blade through his sword arm. Cloud instantly dropped the sword and fell to the ground.

The blond haired man was out of potions. He had used the last one during his fight with Sora. He ripped off his shirt and pulled it to shreds. Leon had stopped to let him cover the wound. Cloud tied the strips around his arm and he picked up his sword again. "Keep it coming Leon," he managed to say through gritted teeth. Leon resisted Hade's control momentarily, but then attacked anyway. As he was attacking he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a potion. He dropped it as he hit Cloud's sword. Catching on to what Leon had done, Cloud ducked under the next blow and rolled over to the potion. He gulped it down and attacked Leon. A few moments later, Hade's control seemed to vanish.

"Cloud, you're going to have to kill me. It's the only way any of you will make it. You have to do it now, before Hades comes back," Leon pleaded. Cloud shook his head like a child who had to go to bed.

"I'm not going to kill you unless I have no other choice," he swore. Suddenly, without warning, Leon lunged at Cloud, he tried to get out of the way, but the Gunblade caught him in the shoulder blade. He cried out as the bone cracked and his sword fell. Now, he really wished that he had a lighter blade that only required one hand, and preferably not his dominant hand. He staggered to his feet. "Hades won't keep his agreement, regardless if I kill you and win or not. He'll still make us fight our way out." He kicked his sword aside and felt his shoulder, it was shattered. He waited for another attack with unending patience. He would have to be very precise. He couldn't mess this one up. Leon charged at him, but Cloud didn't duck far enough under the blade to not get hurt. The blade tore down his part and down the length of his back. Cloud fell to the ground, unmoving and Leon stared as if he couldn't believe what he had done. The Gunblade fell from his hand and he began to walk away. "Hey, jerk-wad, I'm not through with you yet," Cloud grumbled as he rolled over to the fallen Gunblade. Leon whipped around in time to see his blade soaring through the air at him. It landed right in his stomach. He fell to his knees without a word. Cloud stared into Leon's eyes, and Leon did the same to Cloud. They had done what Hades had wanted, maybe now they had a chance.

"You didn't think I'd fall that easy, did you?" He asked with a grin. Cloud's eyes grew wider as Leon pulled out a mega-potion. He was officially screwed and helpless. "I'll be with you in a moment." Cloud cursed himself for believing that it was all over. Cloud felt down his back with his single good hand, he was losing a lot of blood, and was still out of potions. What he wouldn't give for one of Donald's magic cure spells. Cloud lay there not even trying to move. He knew what was coming and he was done fighting it. He was going to simply stay there and let Leon win, even though Kairi and the others would never be released. Leon picked up the Gunblade and strutted over to Cloud. He stared down at the man, "So, any last words?" The Gunblade was lifted above Leon's head and he brought it down with all his might. As the blade came down at Cloud's head, he kicked upwards as hard as he could. Leon stumbled back clutching his privates in his hand and he fell to the ground. "That was cheap," Leon stammered while he huffed in a high pitched voice. Cloud shrugged lying on the ground and found that a potion had _fallen_ out of Leon's pants and was now sitting on his chest. He shot it back into his mouth and they both stayed where they were on the ground recovering. There was not a whole lot a potion could do for sore male appendages, so Leon didn't bother wasting one. "Cloud, how are you holding up?" Leon asked. Hades was obviously distracted with something else at the moment. Cloud sat up and swayed a bit.

"I've been through worse," Cloud retorted. Both men staggered to their feet. Cloud walked, or rather hobbled, to his sword and lifted it off the ground. Both knew that they had very little time to prepare for round three of Hades's battle. They were fairly sure that he would make them fight until either one of them died or Riku got back. Leon was still holding onto his injured groin as they began to fight again. This time Cloud had the advantage. He swung with a fury no one had ever seen. It was as if Hades had taken hold of him as well. He nearly took off Leon's head at one point. Suddenly, Cloud lost control of himself and hit Leon in the head. Leon fell to the ground, motionless. Cloud was horrified. How could he have done this?

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**OK, so I have resolved and let on to almost nothing. I am happy with this chapter. Review if you think either Leon or Cloud should get killed (and please specify which one.)**


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